Following the events of Hollow Shell… The wasteland is a harsh place for a gamer dubbed the "plaguebearer." After the fall of Emerald, Shell escaped a prison camp, joined roving marauders, and nearly lost their mind to the Good News machine. But when Benji finds Shell, they are near death and alone. And a trio of pursuers—a RHODA-powered monitoring station, a flying Biont colony, and the devout followers of the Good News—are closing in to study, kill, or convert them. To save their rescuers, Shell will have to choose which fate to accept.